The Houston Galleria
The Houston Galleria is a shopping mall located in Houston, Texas. Opened in 1970, the mall has 5 anchor stores, 4 floors, and 375 stores and services. The Galleria is the 8th largest mall in America. With 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 square metres) of space that includes 1,926,563 square feet (178,983.6 square metres) of gross leasable area with 339 stores, the Galleria is the largest mall in Texas and seventh-largest in the United States. History The idea of an indoor shopping center with a hotel was envisioned in the 1940s by oilman Glenn H. McCarthy where a second phase was to include the Shamrock Hotel; this concept was scrapped right after the Hilton Hotel franchise took over the Shamrock in 1955. Glenn H. McCarthy's abandoned concept would influence Gerald Hines in the late 1960s. The Galleria was developed by Gerald D. Hines, opening on November 16, 1970. The new shopping center, anchored by Neiman Marcus, was modeled after the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, borrowing, as its most distinctive architectural feature, a glazed barrel vault spanning the central axis of the mall. When it opened the mall had 600,000 ft² (56,000 m²) of retail space. The original skylights — which graced among other things a large, floor-level, ice rink, open year-round - had three hanging chandeliers along with the incorporation of the Houston Oaks Hotel (now The Westin Oaks Houston). The first expansion, known as Galleria II, was completed in 1976 and added 360,000 ft² (33,000 m²) of retail space on two levels, as well as Lord & Taylor and Frost Bros. Marshall Field's joined the mall in 1979, in a store designed by noted architect Philip Johnson. Galleria II included office space (known as the Galleria Financial Center since the early 1990s) and a second hotel, the Galleria Plaza Hotel (now The Westin Galleria Houston). In 1986, a second expansion, Galleria III, opened with a new wing to the west of Marshall Field's, anchored by Macy's. This brought the mall to almost 1.6 million ft². In February 1989 the Galleria was 93% occupied, making it the mall with the fifth highest percentage of occupied space in the Houston area. Marshall Field's sold its store to Saks Fifth Avenue in 1996, while the mall itself was sold by Hines Interests in 1999 to a partnership of Urban Shopping Centers, Inc. and institutional funds advised by Walton Street Capital, LLC. The Walton Street affiliated funds separately purchased the office and hotel buildings at this time. Urban, in turn, was purchased by Netherlands-headquartered real estate investment group Rodamco North America, N.V. in 2000. Rodamco sold part of its stake in 2001 to the real estate investment arm of CalPERS as it tried to thwart a hostile takeover by a consortium including The Westfield Group and Simon Property Group. Ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the buyout, Rodamco's ownership interest and management operation of the mall was acquired by Simon Property Group in early 2002. During all these rapid ownership changes, development continued on a third expansion of the shopping center, known as Galleria IV. Completed in March 2003, it added 800,000 sq ft (74,000 m2) to the south, anchored by Nordstrom and Foley's, as well as an additional 70 stores. Upon completion of Galleria IV, the shopping mall totaled 2.4 million ft² (220,000 m²) of retail space which include many high-end boutiques, such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Kate Spade, Cartier, Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Jimmy Choo, Bvlgari, Valentino, Coach, Fendi, Chanel, Christofle, Tiffany & Co. Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry, Versace, Prada, and Tory Burch. In January 2005, Lord & Taylor closed their store, with its former space being partially demolished and incorporated into the mall as an additional 100,000 ft² (9,300 m²) of retail space that opened in August 2006. This redevelopment included a Kona Grill, Oceanaire Seafood Room, Del Frisco's Steakhouse, Gigi's Asian Bistro, and nine other retail stores. During the reconstruction, some of the former Lord & Taylor infrastructure was recycled although a section of catwalks dating back to the Galleria II's 1976 expansion was demolished; this trend was similar to the Galleria IV's expansion in 2002. In 2005, after the merger of the parent companies of Macy's and Foley's, it was announced that the Macy's store at Sage would close and that the Macy's will buy the Foley's. The Foley's was replaced by Macy's in September 2006, but the original Macy's continued to operate until 2014, both as separate full-line department stores. In 2009, The Rainforest Cafe, a popular theme restaurant, opened near the ice rink, replacing Bennigan's. It closed in 2018 replaced by Footaction USA, Flight 23 and Popbar. Anchors * Macy's * Neiman Marcus * Nordstrom * Saks Fifth Avenue Dining/Entertainment Entertainment/Attractions * The Little Galleria Play Area * Galleria Tennis & Athletic Club * Ice at the Galleria * Westin Galleria Hotel * Westin Oaks Hotel Dining * 51Fifteen Restaurant & Lounge * Auntie Anne's * Cafe Dolce Gelato * Charley's Grilled Subs * The Cheesecake Factory * Chick-fil-A * Chili's * China Max * Daily Grill * Del Frisco's *'E*Tao' * Freshii * Great Wraps * Ichiban * La Madeline * Mariposa at Neiman Marcus * McDonald's * Nordstrom Bistro * Nestle Toll House Cafe * Ninfa's Mexican Café * Oceanaire Seafood * Peli Peli * Potato Corner * Rainforset Cafe * Raising Cane's * Roman Delight Nifna's Express * Roman Delight Pizza & Pasta * Salata * Sbarro * Smoothie King * Starbucks * Subway * Taco Bell * Wetzel's Pretzels * White Oaks External Links The Galleria's Official Website Category:Malls in the United States Category:Shopping Malls Category:Malls in Texas Category:Largest Malls in the United States Category:Multi-Level Malls Category:Former Foley's-anchored Malls Category:Macy's-anchored Malls Category:Neiman Marcus-anchored Malls Category:Saks Fifth Avenue-anchored Malls Category:Former Marshall Field's-anchored Malls Category:Former Lord & Taylor-anchored Malls Category:Simon Property Group Malls Category:Cheesecake Factory Locations